WASHINGTON – California Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were indicted on 60 counts by a federal grand jury on charges that they used more than $250,000 in campaign funds to fund family vacations, school tuition and dental work among other things and then tried to conceal them, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Despite repeated warnings from Hunters' treasurer the couple plowed forward with lavish spending between 2009 and 2016. Often concealing their purchases by mischaracterizing what they were in Federal Elections Commission filings, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors charge that the Hunters were aware of when they were using campaign funds because they “discussed how much money was in their family bank.”

Margaret Hunter used campaign funds to pay $6,150 to pay tuition for their kids' private school. The indictment said, "to conceal and disguise these illegal payments, the HUNTERS provided a number of conflicting explanations, including that the payments were charitable contributions."

The Hunters went on family vacations using campaign cash, according to the indictment, including a $14,000 Thanksgiving trip to Italy and $6,500 jaunt to Hawaii. They spent more than $15,000 on plane tickets and hotel rooms for their children, relatives and friends — and the family rabbit.

The couple is also accused of using campaign money to fund meals at over a dozen steakhouses and restaurants. But the family also spent large sums of money funding the day-to-day aspects of running a family. They spent over $3,300 at fast food restaurants and $9,000 on beer, wine, alcohol and groceries.

The 47-page filing lays out in detail the various ways the Hunters tried to hide their spending.

In one 2015 instance, Hunter told his wife he wanted "to buy my Hawaii shorts" but had run out of money. She counseled him to buy the shorts at a golf pro shop so that they could falsely describe the purchase later as "some [golf] balls for the wounded warriors."

A spokesman for Hunter did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Hunter has been under federal investigation since March 2017 after the House Ethics Committee deferred their probe to DOJ. At the time attorneys for Hunter said he "became aware of expenditure issues confronting his campaign committee … Out of an abundance of caution, he took corrective action in consultation with the FEC and, ultimately, he and his wife personally repaid the campaign approximately $60,000."

Ammar Campa-Najjar, Hunter's Democrat challenger in the November election, seized on the indictment to point out the "corruption in Washington".

"Today’s indictment confirms just how deep this corruption can reach when someone like Duncan Hunter Jr. is in it for himself instead of representing the people," Campa-Najjar said in an emailed statement.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called the charges against Hunter "deeply serious." In a statement Tuesday, he said he would remove Hunter from his committee assignments for now. He didn't call for Hunter to resign.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the indictments reflect the GOP culture in Washington. She said Hunter has "broken the public trust" and called for him to resign.

“The American people deserve better than the GOP’s corruption, cronyism, and incompetence," Pelosi said.

California’s 50th Congressional District has been traditionally Republican, Hunter won it by 27 percentage points in 2016. But with the indictment, Democrats are hoping to make the seat competitive in a year Republicans are on defense across the country.

Hunter, a Marine veteran, was elected to represent the mountainous district just outside of San Diego in 2008. He replaced his father, also named Duncan Hunter.